I reset the fight from Wednesday to say that it was probably a good thing the team had Thursday off. I would imagine a day of film work and indoor workouts lent itself to guys kissing and making up. In the meantime, with six practices in the books, and the team set to start up again on Friday morning, here are four winners so far from 2024 training camp:

4. Ben McDaniels

No position group around the league is getting as much preseason hype as the Houston Texans’ wide receivers room, coached by Ben McDaniels. With Nico Collins plashing Pro Bowl potential, Tank Dell setting the league on fire before getting injured, and the addition of Stefon Diggs, this team looks almost impossible to cover on paper. Early on in camp, Diggs has been one of the best players in team drills, and has show an uncanny leadership quality with young guys. He’s set a standard in camp for Collins and Dell, a standard that both have reached at times in camp, but not to the level Diggs has. McDaniels has to pinch himself that this is the group he gets to work with.

3. 2024 rookie class

Unlike last season, when the Texans trotted out the second and third overall picks in the class as part of their 2023 rookie class, this 2024 class didn’t get assembly started until the Texans were well down the board. However, the top four rookies selected have flashed reasons for great optimism through the offseason thus far, including these first six practices. CB Kamari Lassiter (42nd overall pick) has the inside track to starting at cornerback, tackle Blake Fisher (59th overall pick) has been getting valuable reps with the first string in place of injured Laremy Tunsil, safety Calen Bullock (3rd round pick) has been making plays in the secondary, and TE Cade Stover (4th round) does not look out of place at all. So far, so good for this year’s rookie group. Even 6th round RB Jahwar Jordan had one of the best days of all the players out there at Wednesday’s practice.

2. The defensive line

I have to imagine that opposing offensive coordinators are wetting their beds and losing sleep over the idea of their offensive lines handling the combination of Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter off the edge on passing downs (or ANY down for that matter). Anderson and Hunter have been giving some serious lessons to Blake Fisher and Tytus Howard throughout camp, but the interior of the defensive line has done a nice job, too, led by Mario Edwards. Jr., who would probably be working on the interior on passing downs if the season began today. The defensive line is the engine in DeMeco Ryans’ defense, and through six practices, the engine is humming.

1. C.J. Stroud

Stroud has had some excellent days, and he’s had a couple inconsistent days, but there hasn’t been anything that’s happened at training camp that would remotely suggest a regression in Year 2. A lot of opposing defensive coaches will cite the opportunity to study Stroud in the offseason, but between Stroud’s own self-scouting and OC Bobby Slowik’s intellect, I expect the Texans to remain a step ahead of their competition. More than anything else, at camp, when it comes to Stroud, we’ve seen him take his leadership to another level. This is very clearly HIS team, and he acts like it.